Post navigation

Retirement Speed

“So, what’d you do this morning?” It’s a new phrase that has cropped up in this recent phase of our lives. Two retirees at home, putzing around. (Oh man, does that make us sound old! We’re not.) We’re pretty independent types, so we can easily go about our own business, each following our individual agendas without being very cognizant of the other’s activities.

I’ve been at this a year already, but Rich is only two weeks into it. And being home together is definitely different. I’ve already figured out just how easy it is to fritter time away. And how I can still pack a lot into a day, if I want to. It all depends on the mood, the weather, the day, and my plans. Rich is still in awe of the idea that “there is always tomorrow.”

Being us, we can spend hours on bike rides, running, skiing and other outdoor activities. But it’s still hard to get over that feeling of needing to be productive. It doesn’t take much these days to meet that definition – balancing the checkbook, ordering something on Amazon, and baking cookies all qualify. It’s enough to say we’ve done something.

This morning I decided to fulfill my quota by doing some sewing. By 9:00am I had produced a laptop case – actually a “commission” project for a friend of Karen’s who admired the denim iPad case I made for her. So in exchange for a Caribou gift card, I made another slightly larger model. Once on a roll, I moved on to making a case for my iPad photo connectors. Talk about a frivolous project! But designing and completing it was rewarding. And useful.

I’m not sure what Rich achieved this morning. But I’d say I accomplished a lot! Now it’s time for that bike ride.